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My name is Melanie Shawcroft and I am the VILs Coach at Barcelona Elementary School in the Alhambra District in Phoenix, AZ. Prior to my role as VILs Coach, I taught 6th Grade ELA at Barcelona for 4 years. I also taught English and Journalism at Sunnyslope High School for 8 years. I have a BA in English and an MA in Secondary Education. I am passionate about building relationships with my staff and students. We have created a culture on our campus that encourages teachers and students to be adventurous and take risks. As a result, they lead a lot of our professional development and professional learning communities. As we have done for the past 3 years as an AVID school, we share best practices, provide feedback and encourage each other. Our growth in AVID and our positive culture have helped VILs become a successful initiative on our campus.